McDonough ready for scrap with Sanders

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa's Matt McDonough is well acquainted with his next opponent.

The last two seasons the Hawkeyes' two-time NCAA finalist and 2010 national champion has faced Minnesota's Zach Sanders four times. McDonough has won all four bouts, including two by major decision, but this time is a little different. For the first time since their first meeting in McDonough's freshman year, Sanders enters as the higher ranked wrestler at 125 pounds.

Top-ranked Sanders and his third-ranked Golden Gopher teammates invade Carver-Hawkeye Arena to take on No. 6 Iowa Sunday in a Big Ten Conference dual, starting at 3 p.m. The Hawkeyes (9-3, 4-2 Big Ten) look to avoid a third straight loss, after dropping consecutive duals to Ohio State and Penn State last weekend.

McDonough (21-1) said he expects a battle from the undefeated Gopher senior based off the past contests.

"It's a scrap every time," McDonough said. "I expect  to go out there and have seven minutes of tough hard wrestling and planning on doing what I am to get what I want."

The Iowa junior has experienced stretches where he hasn't earned what he wants. McDonough has been one of the most dominant Hawkeyes since taking over at 125 as a red-shirt freshman. Already this year, McDonough has won as many matches by decision -- five -- as he did all of last year. In his first season, he scored team bonus points in 28 of his 37 wins. The former Linn-Mar three-time state champion has 32 pins, six technical falls and 27 major decisions in his career, but the percentages are down a little this year.

Opponents have tried to tie him up and contain his offensive attack this season. McDonough said he might contribute to it by taking the mat too relaxed and needs more "fire in my belly" during competition.

"You got to get the angles," McDonough said. "Can't let guys slow me down and grab a hold of me, but it's not about what the other guy's doing. It's about myself and not wrestling slow and not letting people wrestle me to that pace but wrestle to my own pace at my own speed with my own intensity."

McDonough wasn't thrilled with his latest performances, despite being the only Hawkeye to go 2-0 on the losing road trip. He won back-to-back decisions for the first time since his freshman year when he beat Sanders and Andrew Long, then of Iowa State, in consecutive rounds at the 2010 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals tournament.

He beat Ohio State's Johnni Dijulius, 5-2, and then needed overtime to edge Penn State's Nico Megaludis, 3-1. McDonough wasn't satisfied with how the matches turned out and the final scores.

"Getting the win is a positive, but that's not the sole determinent in how you look at a match," McDonough said. "How you look at a match is how did I do to wrestle my very best and for that I think I have some things to work on."

The match could have a strong impact on the postseason. The winner would likely be the top-seed at the Big Ten Championships and have a say on who is the top-seed at the NCAA Championships. The focus is on Sunday, letting that result take care of the rest.

"I don't think about the rest of my season ever," McDonough said. "It's always on the horizon, but it's not something you can think about with the task at hand because you're getting too far ahead of yourself."

Now, it is time to rise to the occasion, according to McDonough. To remain perfect against Sanders and reclaim the top spot in the InterMat poll, he needs to constantly attempt to score and focus on being intense each moment. He said you have to love the chance for such a test.

""(You) know you've got a big match coming up and go out there with the mentality that you're going to battle for seven minutes and it's not going to be seven minutes of touchy-feely," McDonough said. "It's going to be going out there and I want to score some points right away. I want to score some points as soon as the whistle blows all the way until the end no matter what happens."

Minnesota leads the Big Ten with a 5-0 conference record and is 8-2 overall. The Gophers have nine ranked wrestlers and are favored in six weights, according to InterMat rankings. The Hawkeyes will need to produce the firepower they're capable of to get back to winning.

"There has to be more aggression (and) more fight," Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. "We know what we've got to do. We've got to do it."